News from Philadelphia, the US & the world in Jewish eyes, kosher recipes, arts reviews & more.

The Jewish Labor Committee condemns the United Nations Economic Commission for Western Asia’s report that asserts that “Israel has established an apartheid regime.” It is not surprising that the Commission, comprised entirely of 18 Arab states, most of which do not recognize Israel, would issue a report that appears to be the first time that “apartheid” has been used in document with the United Nations stamp to criticize Israel. [Read more…]

When the U.N. gives credit to oppressive regimes, millions of human rights victims pay the price.

2014 begins tomorrow with China, Cuba, Russia and Saudi Arabia taking their new seats on the U.N. Human Rights Council.

Instead of elevating and legitimizing dictatorships, the U.N. should be advocating for the release of their political prisoners.

After the jump: Blaming the U.S. and Israel for the Boston Marathon bombings, questionable appointments of Iran and Syria, and blaming Israel for most of the world’s troubles in the top-10 worst decisions list.

Israel has decided to return to the U.N. Human Rights Council (HRC) — a 47-nation body that in two weeks will welcome back China, Cuba, Russia and Saudi Arabia as members — in time for a scheduled review of the Jewish state’s record this Tuesday.

Now is the time for the council to show good faith on its part — starting with the removal of its notorious agenda item on Israel, the only provision of its kind focusing on a specific country at every meeting. Not even gross abusers like China, Sudan, or Syria, nor any other country in the world, is subjected to this kind of treatment.

The Israel-only agenda was criticized by the U.N. secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, upon its adoption in June 2007. Mr. Ban “voiced disappointment at the Council decision to single out Israel as the only specific regional item on its agenda, given the range and scope of allegations of human rights violations throughout the world.”

Under that item, in its last session in March, the Council adopted six resolutions condemning Israel, and only four on the rest of the world combined: one each on Syria, Iran, Myanmar and Sri Lanka. The plight of the vast majority of the world’s victims of gross and systematic violations — from China to Saudi Arabia, Cuba to Zimbabwe — failed to merit a single resolution.

Israel is the only U.N. member state excluded from the regional group system at the council. European Union states should immediately enable Israel to join the Council’s Western group, to which it was admitted at the U.N. in New York over a decade ago, and end this violation of basic equality and due process.

Moreover, the Council’s permanent investigator on Israeli violations is mandated by the Council to examine only Israel, and not Hamas, Fatah, Islamic Jihad, or any other Palestinian actor. It is the only country mandate that examines the actions of only one side, and presumes them to be violations.

The one they chose for the job, Richard Falk — who reports to the General Assembly in New York on Tuesday, on the same day as Israel is scrutinized by the HRC in Geneva — endorses Hamas, praises 9/11 conspiracy theorists, and was just condemned two weeks ago by Ban, the U.S., the U.K. and Canada, for implying the Boston attacks were somehow the fault of the U.S. and Israel.

The U.N. must stop violating its own charter guarantee to respect the equal rights of nations large and small, and the HRC must respect its own principles of universality, impartiality, objectivity and non-selectivity.

The exclusion of Israel from the system of regional groupings [and] the intense focus given to some of Israel’s actions, while other situations sometimes fail to elicit the similar outrage… have given a regrettable impression of bias and one-sidedness.

In regard to Israel’s exclusion from a regional group, Anan said that “we must uphold the principle of equality among Member States. I shall keep encouraging all concerned to find a solution.”

The late U.N. high commissioner for human rights, Sergio de Mello, actively lobbied ambassadors in Geneva for the inclusion of Israel into the Western group.

On 15 March 2005, Anan spoke of the “need to correct a long-standing anomaly that kept Israel from participating fully and equally in the work of the Organization” by including Israel as member of the Western European and Others Group in Geneva.

Sir Robert Jennings, QC, former president of the International Court of Justice, wrote:

Israel’s exclusion from the regional group system places the UN in breach of its fundamental obligations regarding sovereign equality and is thus illegal… The need now to redress it is urgent.

On 20 June 2007, the U.N. secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, criticized “the Council decision to single out Israel as the only specific regional item on its agenda, given the range and scope of allegations of human rights violations throughout the world.”

Yesterday, the world witnessed one of the most cynical and hypocritical displays ever made at the U.N. General Assembly, as Iranian President Hassan Rouhani took the stage. Here are some of the reasons why, clearly articulated in Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s response to the Iranian President’s speech:

Rouhani spoke of human rights even as Iranian forces are participating in the large-scale slaughter of innocent civilians in Syria.

He condemned terrorism even as the Iranian regime is using terrorism in dozens of countries around the world.

He spoke of a nuclear program for civilian purposes, even as an IAEA report determines that the program had military dimensions, and while any rational person understands that Iran, one of the most oil-rich nations, is not investing capital in ballistic missiles and underground nuclear facilities in order to produce electricity.

It is no coincidence that the speech lacked both any practical proposal to stop Iran’s military nuclear program, and any commitment to fulfill U.N. Security Council decisions. This is exactly Iran’s strategy — to talk and play for time in order to advance its ability to achieve nuclear weapons. Rouhani knows this well.

He bragged that a decade ago, he succeeded in misleading the West, so that while Iran was holding talks, it simultaneously advanced its nuclear program.

Continued after the jump.

The international community must test Iran not by its words, but by its actions.

The Israeli delegation absented itself from Rouhani’s speech in order not to grant legitimacy to a regime that does not recognize the existence of the Holocaust, and which publicly declares its desire to wipe the State of Israel off the map. As the Prime Minister of Israel, the state of the Jewish people, I could not allow the Israeli delegation to be part of a cynical public relations ploy, by a regime that denies the Holocaust and calls for our destruction.

Actions speak louder than words. The international community should examine Iran according to its actions, which clearly indicate an acceleration of Iran’s military nuclear program, and continue intensifying economic and diplomatic pressure on Iran until Iran completely dismantles its military nuclear capabilities.